A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is nearing the end of its first season, but there is more Game of Thrones content coming in 2026! For the first time in the franchise’s history, two Game of Thrones universe shows will be releasing in the same calendar year with a new season of House of the Dragon coming later this year following the first season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
For months now, fans have been anticipating that House of the Dragon season 3 would be arriving in late summer with August looking like the most likely month of release. This release window stemmed from comments made by star Matt Smith, who told This Morning hosts that the third season of HBO’s hit series was expected to come out in August.
August made sense given that HBO had confirmed the season would release in summer and we did see the first season of the show release in August 2022. However, it appears that fans might not have to wait until the later part of summer for the new season to arrive.
“It’s coming up sooner than we think, but not soon enough. We’re really getting close,” House of the Dragon season 3 director Loni Peristere teased during a recent appearance on the Escape Hatch podcast. Peristere was unable to give an exact window or share too much about the new season, but he did promise fans that the upcoming third season will be the show’s most epic season yet.
“I’m going to plug season 3 as maybe the most epic season of television ever made,” Peristere teased. “Epic is written on every frame of film this season. I’m really proud of the scale.”
House of the Dragon season 3 is likely coming in June or July
If House of the Dragon season 3 director Loni Peristere is correct and the new season is coming earlier than fans are anticipating, that seems to suggest we’ll see the third season premiere sometime before August.
We also know that the season will arrive sometime after May 31, as HBO Chairman and CEO Casey Bloys told Deadline that House of the Dragon would return outside of the 2026 Emmy eligibility window which ends on, you guessed it, May 31. This essentially narrows the release window down to June or July, which are two very likely options for the House of the Dragon season 3 release date.
There have been some subtle hints that we could see House of the Dragon season 3 premiere in June, which would indeed be much sooner than most fans would expect. After all, we’ve yet to see a season of the show release that early in summer with season 1 arriving in August 2022 and season 2 debuting in July 2024.
A late June premiere date would honestly be a perfect release window for House of the Dragon season 3 and bring fans episodes throughout the summer. With episodes releasing weekly, there is no doubt that House of the Dragon would be one of the biggest shows of the summer – a time when many fans are hungry for new content and turn to streaming and cable.
With A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms season 1 coming to a close on February 22, there is a chance HBO could drop a teaser for House of the Dragon following the finale. If that happens, there is a good chance HBO could confirm the release month for season 3, and finally provide some clarity on the exact window for when House of the Dragon season 3 will arrive. Until then, we’ll keep waiting for an update and hoping we won’t have to wait until August for the new season to premiere!